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# federal

adjective (federal); noun federation

«federal» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A federal country is made of several states or provinces that run some things themselves but share one national government; the USA, Canada, Australia and Germany are federal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#m1)
2. Federal means belonging to that national government, as in federal laws, federal taxes or the federal police (the FBI in the USA). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#m2)
3. (US, informal) «Make a federal case out of it» means make a big fuss about something small. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#m3)

### In the lessons

In social studies it explains how countries are organised: in the USA the federal government is in Washington, while each state has its own government too. In news it shows something is national, not local. Phrases: «federal government», «federal law», «federal holiday», «federal election».

### Examples

- The USA has a federal government and fifty state governments. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x1)
- Australia holds a federal election every few years. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x2)
- Canada is a federal country with ten provinces. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x3)
- Stealing mail is a federal crime in the USA. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x4)
- A federal holiday means government offices are closed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x5)
- The federal capital of Australia is Canberra. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x6)
- The FBI is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x7)
- (US, informal) It was just a spilled drink, don't make a federal case out of it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/#x8)

### Note

Adjective only; no plural. Say «FED-er-ul». The UK is not a federal country in the usual sense. A federation is the whole group of states joined together.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «federal» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/federal/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«federal» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/federal.html) on Mova free.